Air Traffic Management environments are characterized by intensive radio communication between Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) and all aircraft which fall under authority of particular ATC. Flight crews need to carefully and continuously monitor a specific communication channel for relevant radio communications in order to hear information which is important for the given flight. In addition to ATC instructions that apply to the specific aircraft (e.g., route clearance), these communication channels also contain information from surrounding traffic which may be relevant for a given flight. For example, other aircraft on the same ATC channel may report conditions such as turbulence or windshear at a particular location. This can be very demanding for a flight crew and valuable information may be unheard. Such an occurrence is especially likely in situations associated with high workload or when aural information is presented simultaneously with ATC communication.
If the flight crew does not properly monitor the information over the ATC channel aircraft specific instructions or ATC calls may be missed. Furthermore, messages may noticed late, relevant information may be missed, information may not be properly located on a map, and information originating from surrounding traffic, even if properly interpreted at the time, may not become relevant for a significant period of time and may not be recalled when required.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a system and method for monitoring a communication channel and selectively displaying relevant information to a flight crew. In addition, it is desirable to develop a system and method that may identify the presence of predetermined indicators communicated over the communication channel and display the relevant information to the flight crew. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.